Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to card readers configured to be coupled to mobile devices to conduct financial transactions, and more particularly small card readers configured to be coupled to mobile devices.
Description of the Related Art
Plastic cards having a magnetic stripe embedded on one side of the card are prevalent in everyday commerce. These cards are used in various transactions such as to pay for purchases by using a credit card, a debit card, or a gasoline charge card. A charge card or a debit card may also be used to transact business with a bank through use of an automated teller machine (ATM). The magnetic stripe card is capable of storing data by modifying the magnetism of magnetic particles embedded in the stripe. The data stored on the magnetic stripe may be sensed or read by swiping the stripe past a read head. The analog waveform obtained by sensing the magnetic stripe must undergo a process known as decoding to obtain the digital information stored in the magnetic stripe of the card.
Currently, there are hundreds of magnetic stripe readers/swipers on the market, all of them are at least as long as the credit card itself. These existing readers/swipers can be classified as either platform card readers or plunge card readers. Platform card readers are traditional card swipers with single rails, which allow a card to be held against the base of the reader by the user and moved across the read head of the reader. Plunge swipers guide a card by two sets of rails and a backstop. Once the user has inserted the card against the backstop, the card is read as it is removed from the plunge swipers. Plunge swipers are common on ATMs and other self-pay devices because they are less prone to hacking.
Magnetic stripe cards having standard specifications can typically be read by point-of-sale devices at a merchant's location. When the card is swiped through an electronic card reader, such as a platform card reader, at the checkout counter at a merchant's store, the reader will usually use its built-in modem to dial the number of a company that handles credit authentication requests. Once the account is verified and an approval signal will be sent back to the merchant to complete a transaction.
Although magnetic stripe cards are universally used by merchants, there is no way for an individual to take advantage of the card to receive a payment from another individual (who is not a merchant) by swiping the card through a simple reader attached to his/her mobile device. For a non-limiting example, one person may owe another person money for a debt, and the conventional way to pay the debt is to provide cash or a check. It would be convenient to be able to use a credit card or a debit card to pay off the debt. In addition, it is advantageous for an individual to make payment to another individual or merchant by swiping his magnetic stripe card through a reader connected to a mobile device.
There is a need for improved card readers that are configured to be coupled to mobile devices for conducting financial transactions. There is a further need for cost effective card readers configured to be coupled to mobile devices for the conduct of financial transactions. Yet there is a further need for small card readers configured to be coupled to mobile devices for conducting financial transactions.